Is a subscription to HBO Max worth it?
Is a subscription to HBO Max worth it?
HBO Max is one of the more expensive streaming options on the market. Is it worth the price you’ll pay for a subscription?
There’s only so much extra money to go around at the end of each month’s budget for items like entertainment streaming services. We at The Streamable know it better than anyone, which is why we’re constantly testing new streaming services and evaluating existing ones to see which provide the best value for our readers.
HBO Max is one of the top services on the market, and frequently offers some of the most talked-about shows on television. But is it a streamer that viewers need to keep at all times, or one that fans can let drop and pick up when they want it again? Get the opinion of one longtime HBO Max customer below.
Is HBO Max worth it?
What’s on HBO Max?
HBO Max has a highly intriguing library, starting with HBO and Max originals from past and present like “Band of Brothers,” “Game of Thrones,” and “The Pitt.” There’s not a lot of licensed content on HBO Max; the streamer is almost exclusively made up of shows and movies produced by Warner Bros. Discovery, either for streaming or its linear TV channels.
In 2023, WBD opted to combine the HBO Max library with most of the titles on discovery+. That resulted in HBO Max getting a huge selection of on-demand titles from WBD-owned cable channels like Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, Magnolia Network, and Travel Channel, a selection it maintains to this day.
HBO Max is also the first stop for Warner Bros. movies when they leave theaters, and it also has a Pay-1 deal with A24 to stream its films once they’re ready. Blockbusters past and present are available on HBO Max, as well as a big catalog of more artistic movies, classics, and documentaries.
In 2024, HBO Max joined with Disney streamers to launch the Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max bundle. This combination of three streamers allows viewers to save almost 40% off what they’d pay for each service separately, and opens the full catalogs of Disney+ and Hulu to HBO Max subscribers.
Does HBO Max have live sports?
HBO Max does offer a selection of live sports found on TNT, TBS, and truTV, including:
- MLB and NHL regular season and playoff games
- Contests from the annual NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament
- The French Open tennis tournament,
- College Football Playoff games sublicensed from ESPN
There’s a big caveat to remember when seeking live sports on HBO Max, however: they’re only available on ad-free plans. Customers on the $11-per-month ad plan of HBO Max do not get any TNT Sports content; the price to upgrade to ad-free starts at $18.49 per month.
How much are HBO Max plans?
| Plan | Ads? | Monthly price | Annual price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Yes | $11 | $110 |
| Standard | No | $18.49 | $185 |
| Premium | No | $23 | $230 |
| Disney+, HBO Max, and Hulu (with ads) | Yes | $20 | N/A |
| Disney+, HBO Max, and Hulu (no ads) | No | $33 | N/A |
Does HBO Max raise prices often?
The month-to-month freedom of streaming subscriptions offers a big advantage over cable, but it does leave subscribers vulnerable to sudden price increases. Some streamers have made raising their subscription rates an annual tradition, much to the chagrin of their customers.
HBO Max has raised prices in recent years as well, but not at the same rate as some other services. Its last price increase was in October 2025, but that was the first increase from the service in over a year. It’s difficult to predict the cadence of streaming price increases overall, but HBO Max leaves more space between its streaming rate hikes than Disney did last year.
How’s the ad experience on HBO Max?
When I tested the ad experience on HBO Max early last year — so early that the streamer was still called “Max” at the time — I found that it offered one of the best ad experiences of any streaming service. At the time, the streamer limited commercials to around four minutes per hour of content.
A few months later, WBD quietly increased the amount of ads it shows on HBO Max to as much as six minutes per hour. This is still less than a streamer like Hulu, but it’s admittedly a knock on the service’s value.
What do I like about HBO Max?
For me, the best argument in favor of HBO Max starts with its content library. I’m a huge re-watcher, and HBO has many of the titles I like to stream when I run out of other titles to watch, such as “Boardwalk Empire,” “The Sopranos,” and “The Wire.” There was a time when this kind of prestige TV was hard to come by, though now every streaming service has its own flashy originals that it uses to grab the attention of new customers, however fleeting.
Perhaps that’s what keeps me coming back to HBO Max the most: its prestige TV still feels like it’s made in the name of quality, not in the name of mass appeal. After watching a show like “The White Lotus,” it’s clear that HBO isn’t trying to please everyone all the time with its original releases, and that’s what I want. Anyone can churn out a sitcom with bland characters that will run for three seasons, but that’s not the kind of content I seek out when I want to watch TV.
HBO Max is also one of my favorite streaming apps to use. When I https://thestreamable.com/hbo-max-user-interface-review text reviewed the service's user interface last year, I noted how simple navigating around the streamer is, and how well-crafted its playback controls are. HBO Max makes it easy to move around its interface, while also maintaining the feeling that the user is having a premium experience, a tricky balance to maintain.
Giving customers the option to bundle HBO Max with Disney’s entertainment streamers was a stroke of genius by HBO Max. It unlocks a huge number of top TV shows, older content, and big-name franchises for one price, and it gives non-sports fans a way to enjoy the best value from the Disney Bundle without having to feel trapped into paying for ESPN.
What are the worst parts about HBO Max?
If you’re not a big fan of prestige TV or reality shows, there may not be a ton in the HBO Max library for you. Many would no doubt argue that WBD’s streaming service is home to the one sitcom to rule them all in “Friends,” but unlike streamers such as Hulu or Paramount+, HBO Max doesn’t have a large selection of similar titles to choose from.
I also hate that HBO Max has opted to put TNT Sports content behind the ad-free paywall. I understand that this is becoming something of a trend now; Peacock also does not offer sports on its lowest-priced tier any longer. But customers are now faced with the requirement of paying at least $18.49 per month to watch live sports on Turner channels, and without live NBA games, that price can seem hard to justify at times.
So, is HBO Max worth it?
All in all, I’d have to say that for fans of high-quality TV shows and movies, $11 per month for an ad-supported HBO Max subscription is a pretty good value. The streamer houses some of the best-reviewed and most-awarded TV titles in all of streaming, and if that’s the kind of TV you prize, HBO Max is a must-have.
Whether or not the upgrade to ad-free plans is a need is a more subjective question. Viewers who want to watch live sports from TNT, TBS, and truTV will no doubt think the extra $7.49 per month to watch TNT Sports on HBO Max is a better deal than paying $50+ per month for a live TV streaming service that includes the channels, but watching them on HBO Max does force the viewer to add an extra app.
Personally, I find that watching TV shows and movies in premium audio and visual formats like 4K and Dolby Atmos doesn’t enhance the viewing experience all that much. But for viewers who disagree, the HBO Max Premium plan is the only way to watch the streamer’s catalog in the best possible formats.
Viewers who appreciate the family-friendly programming of Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, and Magnolia Network will always want to keep an HBO Max subscription on hand. The service has a huge library of these titles available, showing that reality TV doesn’t always have to be salacious to be enjoyable. And families can bundle HBO Max with Disney+ and Hulu for even more family-friendly programming options, if they wish.
Big fans of general entertainment may want to seek out other streaming subscriptions, or at the very least consider if a bundle with Hulu and Disney+ makes sense. But for people who think of themselves as serious TV watchers, an HBO Max subscription is definitely worth keeping, in one long-time subscriber’s considered opinion.
HBO Max
HBO Max is a subscription video streaming service that gives access to the full HBO library and exclusive Max Originals. There are hubs for content from TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, TCM, Cartoon Network, Travel Channel, ID, and more. Watch hit series like “The Last of Us,” “House of the Dragon,” “Succession,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and more. Within HBO Max, B/R Sports allows users to watch live NBA, MLB, NHL, March Madness, and NASCAR events.